Price Trend

According to the price monitoring of business associations, as of April 23, the average price of domestic methanol market was 2232 yuan/ton, and the domestic methanol market continued to decline.

II. Market Analysis

Products: Domestic methanol shows a differentiated trend, the mainland continues to be weak. In the port market, the future-present linkage is dominant, with futures rising first and then depressing, the overall slightly upward. The overall performance of the mainland market is weak. At present, the downstream receipt intention is weak and has not improved. The local decline is 20-100 yuan/ton. With the end of the Northwest part of the equipment maintenance, it is expected that the supply side will increase in the later period, and the intra-site profit will be more hollow. It is expected that the mainland market will remain weak in the short term. We should pay more attention to the changes of equipment in the main production areas and the transmission of Northwest guidance prices to the surrounding markets.

In terms of freight, the domestic freight of methanol has recently been sorted out, showing a decline in many places. The freight rate of Inner Mongolia North Line to North Shandong refers to 110-200 yuan/ton, falling by 20-30 yuan/ton, and that of South Line to North Shandong 120-200 yuan/ton. Part of Shanxi Province is 110-150 yuan/ton to the north of Shandong Province, and reference from Guanzhong to the north of Shandong Province is 90-150 yuan/ton to the south of Shandong Province is 140-160 yuan/ton. Qinghai to North Shandong 280-320 yuan/ton.

Industry chain: formaldehyde: methanol raw material is weak, the cost is weak; under security supervision, formaldehyde construction in the lower reaches of Shandong Province is still low, formaldehyde market turnover is not good. Now Linyi is around 1,350 yuan/ton, Zibo and its surrounding areas are maintained at 1,500-1,550 yuan/ton. Acetic acid: The domestic glacial acetic acid market fell at the beginning of the week. Due to the poor overall signing of orders, Henan enterprises have a high sales pressure, and the offer has been markedly downgraded. Dimethyl ether: Dimethyl ether Market is stable, the market atmosphere is general. The main units have a plan to increase the quantity, and the downstream units purchase more on demand, so the seller’s production and sales are balanced.

3. Future Market Forecast

Business Cooperative Viewpoint: On the positive side, the supply side: part of the equipment overhaul in Northwest China has not yet ended, part of the supply side is tight; Futures: the futures market has risen substantially, although it has fallen back, the overall slightly upward. On the negative side, the cost: the price of upstream products such as natural gas and coal is at a low level, and the cost side has declined due to the drop of local freight; on the demand side, the restriction of security supervision on some downstream demand is still in existence at the present stage; on the later stage, the maintenance devices are gradually restored, and the supply side is expected to increase, so the contradiction between supply and demand is gradually highlighted. Methanol analysts from business associations predict that the overall performance of the domestic methanol market in the short term is relatively weak.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government resolution on the same day, banning the export of oil and petroleum products to Ukraine from now on, according to a news release on the Russian government’s website on the 18th.

The resolution states that Russia has imposed an export ban on oil and petroleum products to Ukraine. In addition, from June 1 this year, only with the permission of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, can some Russian oil, petroleum products and coal be exported to Ukraine. The resolution shall come into force as of the date of its promulgation.

On the same day, Medvedev also said through the media that in addition to prohibiting the export of oil and petroleum products to Ukraine, Russia will also prohibit the import of some products from Ukraine, including machinery manufacturing, light industry and metal processing products.

The Ukrainian government has decided to expand the list of bans on imports from Russia, according to a recent Russian newspaper Source. Medvedev said on the 18th that the recent Ukrainian policy is unfriendly to Russia. In this case, Russia was forced to protect its own interests and take response measures.

Price Trend Chart of Nitric Acid Market

According to the monitoring of business associations, the price of nitric acid in China has stabilized this week, with an average price of 1,560 yuan per ton.

II. Market Analysis

Products: This week, the domestic nitric acid market price continued to stabilize, the mainstream manufacturers in Jiangsu Province quoted 1,550-1,600 yuan/ton, Anhui Province quoted 1,500-1,600 yuan/ton, South China quoted 1,950 yuan/ton, the situation of nitric acid in various places has not improved, the price is stable.

Industry chain: The market performance of raw material liquid ammonia in upstream nitric acid is stabilizing, the price fluctuates slightly, the transaction is slightly deadlocked, the majority of manufacturers report stable, some manufacturers increase slightly, the inventory pressure of manufacturers is general. Downstream products TDI price market rose slightly.

3. Future Market Forecast

In summary, Nitric acid analysts of business associations believe that the market for nitric acid may increase slightly in the short term.

According to the data monitored by business associations, the price of domestic carbon black quoted 6,900 yuan/ton on April 15, with a small fluctuation and a price fluctuation range of 100-300 yuan/ton. This month, the volatility of carbon black market is mainly upward.

Domestic carbon black sales are still acceptable, wait-and-see atmosphere exists, and the quotation is still mainly stable. At present, the domestic quotation for N220 wet carbon black is about 6900 yuan/ton. Benefiting from the warming up of infrastructure and the improvement of liquidity, the downstream tire industry’s start-up rate and profit margin have recovered, thus driving the carbon black industry to a better development.

Future market forecast: Carbon black market is expected to stabilize in the future and rebound slightly.

On April 14, Baku TREND.AZ reported that the Azerbaijani Cabinet decided to abolish import tariffs of 15% on TS-1 fuel, K-20 lighting kerosene and KT-2 technical kerosene for jet engines from May 15, 2019 to January 1, 2020. According to another Cabinet decision, a consumption tax of 1 manat per ton is imposed on these types of fuels. The decision will also take effect from 15 May 2019 to 1 January 2020.